Steering wheel suspension and steering mechanism



'Jan. 15, 1935.

c. OPOLO STEERING WHEEL SUSPENSION AND STEERING MECHANISM Filed April 9. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 jNT/ENTUE ATTURNEYE.

c. OPOLO 1,937,791

Jan. 15, 1935 STEERING WHEEL SUSPENSION AND STEERING MECHANISM Filed April 9, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I -2- F g I 51 1.9 39

92 54 54 n 1 2a Z9 Z9 .97

- ing a reaction with Patented Jan. 15, 1935 uurrsosmrss mrssr orsics an interlinking of v 1,987,191 s'rssnmo vvmisr. SUSPENSION m we MECHANISM Charles Omlo, Culver City, Calif. Application April 9, 1934, No. 119321 3 Glaiml. (Cl. etc-12s) to an independent spring steering wheels of a vehicle and the steering mechanism for both of the wheels with the independent spring 5 suspension.

My invention,

pendent spring mounting of the may be considered as a my patent applications for 1934, Serial No. 714.971, and ilJod March into Patent No. 1,978,114,

hicles, filed March 10, Double action axle, No. 716,831, matured dated Oct. 23, 1934.

so far as it concerns the indesteering wheels further development of Flexible axle for ve- 22, 1934, Serial An object and feature of my present invention as it concerns the spring mounting of the vehicle wheels consists in pivoting a longitudinally extended lever parallel to this vehicle arm which is substantially the side beams frame and at the forward end of each of a vehicle frame to lever arm to provide a part axle on which the steering road wheel is mounted by the usual spindie construction.

The spring mounting com prises using an individual spring between the forward end of each lever arm and the forward portion of the vehicle frame. This may be a compression type of coiled Another feature lever arm intermediate prin of my invention is pivoting the its ends, that lathe rear end of the it extends reardly oi the pivot and between this rear end and the vehicle 13mins there is e. seconda y spring. may

also he of th coiled compression type.

this construction the pivots of thc longitudinol levers are on the some transverse pref= eraloly connected below tween the side rails or hetuns a transverse niernher he= In order to stilten the longitudinal lever to resist side thrusts the pivot of each lever is made 30m poretively long compared with transverse measurement of the vehicle frame and the lever is made up of a pair ing with the pivot and two v-shaped truss of angular braced h tormthe part axle practically members secured together at their apex. By this construction of the individually spring mounted lever arms each wheel can have a free up and down movement relative to the vehicle frame and to the ground without caus wheel may react to road which the opposite wheel, thus one. bumps or depressions in the the other wheel does not encounter and the spring mounting will react to the movement of the one wheel without causing the whole of the front part of the vehicle frame to have an up and down movement which is a characteristic of wheels mounted on a continuous front axle and to a part of the longitudinal lever arm of vehicle this front axle being spring connected to the vehicle frame.

Another object and feature of my invention as it concerns the interli l 1- 1 of the steering mechanism for each wheel is the employment of two bell cranks, each pivoted at its elbow or angle on which each wheel is moun The pivot is preferably positioned close to the transverse pivot mounting of each lever arm and the'bell cranks on the opposite sides of the vehicle are connected togather to operate in unison. The free end of each bell crank is connected, preferably by a link, tov an arm attached to each wheel and causing the wheel to pivot on its vertical spindle or king pin.

In my invention the steering column y be mounted in the conventional manner on one side of the vehicle and through the medium of a worm and worm wheel with an arm may have a link connection to one of the hell cranks and thus when operating one hell crank to actuate both, these oving in the reverse direction so that the wheels will be steered to make the e directiouai turn and each wheel rotated the proper amount to guide the vehicle around a curve. By this construction of the interconnected steering mechanism either wheel of the vehicle av move up and down relative to the vehicle frame and still pet correct steering of the steering wheels on opposite sides of the vehicle,

My invention is illustrcted in the accompanying drowlngs, in which:

IF-lg. i is a. perspective View the front port of e. vehicle frame showing my wheel mounting and spring suspension.

Fig. ii is a front elevation tehcn in the direction of the arrow 2 ct l.

3 is c. longitudinel section on the line l t- 3 of Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. s is c horisontol section on the line s-e of Fig. 3 in the direction of the ows.

in the drawings the vehicle. frame is designated by the numeral 11 and this is provided with side beams or rails 12 which have a front, transverse member 13 and a rearward transverse member 14. The side beams and the transverse members are illustrated as, being constructed of channels.

Extending downwardly from the rear transverse member and also from each side beam there are two brackets 15, these having outside and, inside ears 16 and 17. Connecting these ears in each bracket there is a pivot rod 18.

Pivotally mounted on each pivot rod there is a lever arm assembly 19 which extends forwardly. This lever arm has a longitudinal lever member 20 which is pivoted preferably adjacent the ear 16 and a diagonal brace member 21 which is preferably pivoted adjacent the inner ear 1'7. The lever member and the brace member intersect at 22. At the forward end of the lever arm assembly there is a part axle 23 which is secured at its inner end 24 to the forward end of the longitudinal lever 20 and is engaged at an outside portion 25. The outer end-of the axle portion is provided with a hub 26, through which extends the spindle or king pin 2'7, this latter holding the yoke 28 of the wheel axle, not illustrated, on which steering road wheels 29 are mounted. These wheels may be secured in an ordinary manner.

The spring mounting comprises a spring seat 30 on each axle portion. A transverse bar 31 extends across the vehicle frame vertically above the forward transverse member 13 and is secured thereto by welding. This plate at its ends has a pair of spring seats 33'. These are located outside of the longitudinal beams or rails 12 and vertically above the spring seat 30. A stiff coiled compression spring 34 engages both of the seats 30 and 33. These seats are preferably formed in the manner of a socket indicated at 35 having a rim 36 for holding the ends of the main compression springs 34 in place. In addition to the spring 34 there is an internal coiled spring 37 mounted in the seat 30 and enclosed by the spring 34. This spring 37 is preferably a combined helically coiled and spiral spring and is smaller at the top than at the bottom. The top 38 terminate's below the normal position of the upper spring seat 33. The longitudinal lever arm 20 is illustrated as having a rear extension 39 and this extension has a spring seat 40 complementary to which there is a spring seat 41 secured to the under side of each longitudinal beam or rail 12 preferably located closely contiguous to the bracket 16. An auxiliary coiled spring 42 fits between the seats 40 and 41.

The action of the spring mounting is as follows:

If both of the front wheels meet a bump or hump in the road manifestly both lever arms 19 will pivot on their pivot rod 18, causing a relative lifting of the axle ends 23 in reference to the front of the vehicle frame. This causes a compression of the main coil springs 34 and releases the compression on the spring 42. .If the compression of the spring 34 is very severe the upper end 38 of the inner spring 37 engages the upper spring seat 33 and increases the resistance to the compression of the springs. The rebounding of these springs 34 and 37 forcing the front wheel assembly and the vehicle frame apart causes a compression of the rear springs 42 between the rear end of the lever arm 19 and the vehicle frame.

If the front wheels both strike a depression in the road the wheels and the front axles tend to move downwardly, thus decreasing the compression of the springs 34 but increasing the compression of the springs 42 thereby reacting against the tendency of the front end of the vehicle to drop into the depression.

If only one wheel on one side strikes a bump while the other wheel travels on a level road, on account of each lever arm assembly 19 being free to move independently of the other this will cause the front axle part to swing upwardly compressing the main spring 34, as above described, for the action of both wheels, but either wheel assembly may act independently of the other wheel assembly. The reverse action takes place when one wheel drops into a depression in the road ifestly, if both wheels while the other 'wheel follows a level road, the spring 34 on one side extending and the lever arm on one side pivoting downwardly independent of the action on the other side of the vehicle and thus tending to maintain the vehicle frame on a continuous level movement relative to the smooth part of the road.

The compensating steering mechanism for the vehicle wheels is as follows:

There are two bell cranks 45; each has its elbow 46 pivoted to the brace 21 by a vertical pivot preferably closely contiguous to the ear 17 of the bracket 15. The arms 47 of each of these bell cranks are connected at their outer ends 48 by a transverse link 49, this being for the purpose of actuating both of the bell cranks simultaneously but in the opposite direction. The opposite'arms 50 of each of these bell cranks each have a forwardly extending link 51 pivoted at it outer end 52. These links at their forward ends each connect to an arm 53 attached to the yoke 28 by means of vertical pivots 54. Thus when each bell crank is operated it either pulls or thrusts on a link 51 and this turns the vehicle wheels 29 on their spindles or king pins 27. Thus both of the wheels are turned in the same direction to make the same directional turn of .the vehicle.

In order to operate the bell cranks the vehicle is provided with a steering column 55 which has any suitable operating mechanism for actuating a lever arm 56. This may be of a standard type. A link 57 is pivotally connected to the lower end 58 of this arm and is pivoted to the'outer end 59 of an extension arm bell cranks, this extension being from the end 52 to which the link 51 is connected. There- 60 of one of the fore, when there is a pull or a thrust on the tie up and down movement to the bell cranks compared with the movement of the axle ends 23 and, hence, of the arms 53 and the vertical pivots 54. Thus one of the wheels with its part axle 23 may move up or down in reference to the vehicle frame without causing a binding action of the bell crank connected to the relatively moving lever arm 19 and thus the vehicle wheels may be readily steered even if only one is reacting to bumps or depressions in the road. Manand their axle parts react simultaneously to bumps or depresslonsin the road relative to the vehicle frame there is no change in the relative position of the bell crank and these may be used to steer the vehicle under such condition.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a vehicle, a vehicle frame having side members, a bracket structure depending from the frame, a pair of forwardly extending lever arm assemblies each having an arm substantially below a side member of the frame and a diagonal brace intersecting the arm, the rear end of each arm and each brace being connected to the bracket by-a transverse hinge, the two hinges and bovine a yoke arm for purpose being in transverse axial aliznment, an axle section. secured to the forward end of each arm and brace and transverse to the vehicle frame, a wheel mounted on a spindle on each axle section of steering, each axle'section having a spring seat, a complementary spring seat secured to the vehicle frame, a between each pair of seats, a bell crank pivoted to each lever arm assembly adiaeentits hinae, a connecting link between the two bell cranks, a link connecting each bell crank and the yoke arm of a wheel, and a steerins mom to actuate one hell crank.

2. In a vehicle, a vehicle frame, a pair of forwar-d1! extending lever arm assemblies each hinged to the under side of the vehicle thesaidhinsesbeinsintransverseaxial lever arm assembly din! transverse to the vehicle frame axle section having a wheel mounted thereon on a spindle and each wheel having a yoke arm for purposes of steerlnz, a main spring between each lever arm assembly at its forward and the vehicle frame, a rearward exon each lever arm assembly and an each-extension and .the vehicle frame, a bell crank pivoted to each lever arm assembly adiacent its hinge, a link connectin: the two bell crank a link from each crankto theyoke armof awheelandasteerins meanaconn toonebellerank both bell crank simulta- 8 in a vehicle, a vehicle frame havlns two forwardly converglns mile members, a transverse member iolnins the side members, a pair of brackets extending downwardlyfrom the transverse member, a lever arm assembly hingedly connected to bracket at its rear portion,

each assembly having a forwardly extending and located substa tially below one of the side members of the vehicle frame and having a diagonal V and to the forward arm and each brace, the axle secaxis of the vehicle at the end for tween each out said yoke arm of a wheel, one of extendlnll said extension adapted for opera cranks and steel-ins the wheels in to actuate 

